The UFC makes its national television debut on FOX Saturday night with one of the biggest heavyweight fights in the history of the organization as Cain Velasquez defends his heavyweight championship against Junior dos Santos.
Coming into the fight, the oddsmakers like the champion Velasquez to retain, as he has a money line of -190 to win on Saturday night. Dos Santos comes in with odds of +155. These two will clash from the Honda Center in Anaheim at 9 p.m. ET live on FOX.
Here is a look at both fighters and my pick for the winner.
Cain Velasquez (9-0) – The former wrestler from Arizona State is unbeaten in his short MMA career and he holds wins over top fighters like Cheick Kongo, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Brock Lesnar. Velasquez started as a wrestler, but has quickly developed his boxing and turned into one of the top knockout artists in the division. The questions for the champion coming in are his conditioning and health, as he is coming off rotator cuff surgery that has sidelined him for over a year. His longest fight in the UFC is 15 minutes and he struggled to make it to the end there, so if this fight goes deep, he could be in rough shape.
Junior dos Santos (13-1) – The Brazilian is 7-0 in the UFC and holds wins over the likes of Fabricio Werdum, Mirko CroCop, Roy Nelson, and Shane Carwin. Junior is a powerful striker that likes to throw heavy punches. His uppercut has been his signature strike to finish opponents, but he also works in devastating body shots. A black belt in jiu-jitsu as well, dos Santos hasn’t had to show those skills because he has been able to dominate fights standing. The test for him in this fight will be whether or not he is able to stuff the takedowns of Velasquez, as he has not faced a tough wrestler in the octagon. Like Velasquez, dos Santos hasn’t been pushed past 15 minutes yet, so fatigue could be an issue if this bout reaches the championship rounds.
Who Will Win? – This fight could go 25 minutes and it could go 25 seconds. Both fighters have a lot of explosiveness to them but both also have some big questions coming in. Ultimately, I feel Velasquez’ striking is closer to matching dos Santos’ as opposed to dos Santos’ wrestling being anywhere near Velasquez’. I think both fighters will land some early strikes, but Velasquez will be the one to get the fight to the ground and control Junior from there. I am actually going to be part of the minority that sees this fight going the distance due to Velasquez going with the wrestling.
Per MMABlitz.com, in a big blow to the UFC Live 4 card, headliner Nate Marquardt will not be able to compete against Rick Story on Sunday after failing the pre-fight physical.
Following the failed physical, UFC President posted this, stating Marquardt will no longer be with the UFC
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has learned that Marquardt is a late scratch from Sunday’s UFC on Versus 4 event, and opponent Rick Story (13-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC) will now instead meet Charlie Brenneman (12-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) on the evening’s main card.
With the late change, a highly-anticipated heavyweight bout between Pat Barry (6-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) and Cheick Kongo (15-6-2 MMA, 8-4-1 UFC) has now been promoted to main-event status.
The reason for Marquardt’s last-minute withdrawal, mere hours before he was scheduled to hit the scales at the event’s official weigh-ins, wasn’t immediately evident. However, Marquardt’s camp did release a statement insisting the setback was temporary and his future still lies at 170 pounds.
“Nate is really disappointed,” the statement read. “He really was looking forward to making his welterweight debut, and he plans to be back in there as soon as possible.”
Brenneman is the replacement, but that probably won’t suit Story, who took this fight on short notice for a chance to really thrust himself into the title picture. This fight seems like a lose-lose situation for Story.
For Marquardt, it is hard to know what will happen next, but clearly there is still more to this story.
As HeavyMMA.com points out, Zuffa’s purchase of Strikeforce moves us one step closer to seeing the best fighters in the world competing against each other.
There are seminal moments is everyone’s life where they remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when something historic happened.
Saturday morning, I was sitting at the desk in my office, working on a piece for UFC 128 when the news broke that Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC, had purchased Strikeforce.
Think I’m over-extending by calling this move historic? Think again.
While UFC President Dana White repeatedly told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani “it’s business as usual” in the video interview that broke the news to the masses, the truth is that this deal dramatically changes the landscape of mixed martial arts moving forward. The two premier organizations in MMA may continue to run as separate and distinct entities for now, but the business of mixed martial arts has forever been changed by this announcement.
HeavyMMA.com is reporting that three bouts, including Tito Ortiz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Dan Hardy vs. Anthony Johnson, are official for UFC Fight Night 24 in Seattle on March 29.
The UFC recently announced that Seattle, Washington would play host to the upcoming “UFC Fight Night 24: Ortiz vs. Nogueira” and today the promotion announced three fights that will be featured on the card.
In the main event of the evening, former light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz looks for a victory and job security against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, while former welterweight top contender Dan Hardy seeks redemption against Anthony Johnson in the evening’s co-main event. In the third official bout of the evening, “Ultimate Fighter” winner Amir Sadollah is set to face off against Duane Ludwig in a match up that will likely make the main card on March 29.
With three fights announced, focus seems to remain on Ortiz, who has struggled in recent years. UFC President Dana White is one of the many who has noticed and says that Ortiz’s time in the Octagon could be over depending on the result of the March fight.
Despite losing five straight fights, Jeremy Botter of HeavyMMA.com writes that Tito Ortiz will get another shot at staying in the UFC.
UFC President Dana White confirmed today that Ortiz will face Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. White said he considered cutting Ortiz following his loss to Matt Hamill, but Ortiz convinced his boss to give him one more shot.
“I thought I was going to cut him,” White said. “I talked to Tito. He came up to me and we had a conversation. Tito said ‘I’m not done. I feel healthy and I feel good.’ And he asked for one last chance, so I’m going to do it.”
White did say that the Nogueira bout would be Ortiz’s last chance at remaining with the promotion.
“I’m not the evil bastard everyone thinks I am,” White said. “But it’s definitely his last chance. And he knows that, too.”
Ortiz has not won a fight since an October 2006 victory over Ken Shamrock. The Nogueira fight is expected to take place in March, likely in the promotion’s return to Abu Dhabi.
Jeremy Botter of HeavyMMA.com fills everybody in on the big news out of the Mixed Martial Arts world today:
The long-awaited merger between the Ultimate Fighting Championship and younger sibling World Extreme Cagefighting has finally come to fruition.
UFC President Dana White made the announcement during a media conference call on Thursday.
The final two WEC events will be held in November and December. After the final event, the WEC lightweight division will roll into the UFC’s version of the weight class, while the other weight classes will be known as the UFC featherweight and UFC bantamweight championships.
“As the UFC continues to evolve and grow globally, we want to be able to give fans title fights in every weight division,” said White. “This is a big day for the sport and the athletes who will have the opportunity to fight on the biggest stage in the world.”
There is no word as to what the announcement is, as the promotion has not hinted at anything as of this point in time.
The last time the promotion came out with a major announcement, Dana White revealed that the UFC would be opening offices in Toronto and that Tom Wright would lead the charge in Canada. However, no rumors have surfaced about another office opening. Thus, the announcement is currently a bit of a mystery.
Be sure to check back with HeavyMMA.com for coverage on the upcoming announcement.
With Season 12 set to debut tonight, I thought I’d share with you some of my favorite moments from the first 11 seasons of the show that has brought mixed martial arts into the living rooms of millions.
Before you start predicting which moment will make the top of the charts, let me assure you that it is not Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar’s seminal fight from the finale of Season 1. Nothing against those two or the importance of that fight, because it was and still is a massive moment in the history of the sport, but every list ever made about The Ultimate Fighter features that bout and there is nothing more I can say that hasn’t already been said.
Instead, let’s look back at some of the more candid and comical moments that have made The Ultimate Fighter a must-see spectacle for MMA fans and reality TV enthusiasts alike.
The UFC makes its national television debut on FOX Saturday night with one of the biggest heavyweight fights in the history of the organization as Cain Velasquez defends his heavyweight championship against Junior dos Santos.
